Sarah de Vries’ family one of four to file lawsuit against Pickton, police, government

Guelph Mercury

VANCOUVER—The children of Sarah de Vries and those of three other missing women whose remains were found on serial killer Robert Pickton’s farm have launched legal action looking for compensation.

Sarah is the adopted daughter of Pat de Vries, a Guelph resident raising Sarah’s two children, Jeanie and Ben.

Sarah was 28 when she vanished from a street in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside in 1998. Pickton was eventually charged with her murder after her DNA was found on a lipstick stashed with other women’s belongings at his sprawling Port Coquitlam pig farm.

Pickton is serving concurrent life sentences for the murders of six women. Almost three years ago, 20 more murder charges against Pickton—including Sarah’s case—were formally stayed.

Along with Sarah’s children, the daughters and sons of Dianne Rock, Cynthia Feliks and Yvonne Boen have filed separate lawsuits in B.C. Supreme Court, targeting the provincial government, the City of Vancouver, Robert Pickton and his brother Dave and their sister Linda.

The statements of claim allege numerous failures on the part of Vancouver police, RCMP and Crown prosecutors, including that police didn’t warn women in the Downtown Eastside that a serial killer may have been targeting women in the area.

The lawsuits, which contain unproven allegations, also complain about the way the Vancouver police and RCMP informed the women’s families about the Pickton connection, including Boen’s children, who found out through news reports.

A public inquiry into the Pickton case found numerous failures by the police, and commissioner Wally Oppal recommended compensation for the women’s children and a “healing fund” for their families.

Jason Gratl, the lawyer representing the family members, says the province and the city have allowed Oppal’s recommendation for compensation to languish, and he hopes the lawsuits will prompt the two levels of government to take the issue of compensation seriously.